About 5 years ago at a ultra-boring Oil and Gas trade show in Bucharest, Romania a colleague and I decided that we needed to start a collection of some common type of souvenirs from the counties that we travel to for business. There was a little shop just outside of the run-down communist looking trade show pavilion and we were immediately drawn to the horrible cans of meat. Two of these cans became exhibit numbers one and two of the Meat Museum. Since then we have recruited a number of additional ‘hunters’ and have over 110 cans from more than 30 countries.

I have even had customers send me cans from their home countries after hearing about the museum or after seeing the display in my office. We have had roughly 15 cans either confiscated at customs in various countries while in transit, or removed from courier packages and confiscated that way.

So far none of the cans or glass jars have ruptured but I live in constant fear that if one goes off it will start a chain reaction and will detonate the whole exhibit. Most are faring okay with the exception of a can of Russian cow (I think its cow) on which the top is starting to bulge, and some pigs feet in a glass jar that I think some air must
have gotten to.

There is also a ‘gift shop’, (admittedly in it’s infancy) that has a pack of ‘I Love Meat’ stickers, a Spam T-shirt and a ‘chick-can’ apparatus for inserting an open beer can into the backside of a chicken prior to cooking.

People often ask me what the best exhibit in the collection is. Not an easy answer, as I love them all but I do have two favorites: One is a glass jar of pork(?) from Poland. It’s is not the pork that I love but the photo of the 1970’s porn star dude and his portly wife out having a ‘Piknik’ with the family. Another show-stopper is the sheep’s head from Iran with the saying ‘Healthy Food – Healthy Society’ on the label. I couldn’t agree more.

Tough economic times, a slow down in the Oil and Gas sector, and damned video conferencing have slowed the travel (and thereby meat hunting) considerably since last year but the collection continues to grow however slowly. I’m off to Southern Germany next week and undoubtedly will find some good huntin’ there… Those Germans eat some sick shit and bless them, they have no issue with eating it out of a can!

Amazing. Although I’m a little bummed that you haven’t eaten any of these, Brad. I mean, with that Sheep Head staring at you every day, I don’t know how you haven’t given into the temptation yet.

After his work on alternating current made him a rich, famous, and respected electrical inventor, Tesla had no trouble securing funds (about $US3 million in today’s money) for what was seen as the next frontier: Wireless transmission. Tesla built a massive tower on a site he named Wardenclyffe, in southern New York, to experiment with the beginnings of what would become radio waves.

But when he was beaten to the punch by Italian Marconi (here we can shake our fists, a la Colbert, and yell: MARCONI!!!!), he decided he was actually going to transmit wireless energy, not just information, out to those who couldn’t afford it. His investors, seeing no trail to profit, abandoned him, and as turned out, his tower was in no way capable of doing any such thing in the first place.

Wardenclyffe is a maze of Tesla lore; giant batteries without documentation, rumours of extensive secret tunnels surrounding the site, and half-finished experiments are all part of its now-dilapidated charm. It’s fallen into disrepair in recent years, and is currently littered with the throwaways of damn teenagers with their damn beer cans, but now with the possibility that the property could be sold as mere real estate, Tesla fanatics are up in arms.

Tesla’s admirers stress that this 16-acre estate is his most important workshop, and that any other fate but a museum is an insult to the ambitious genius’s memory. The company that currently owns it is open to such a change, but is not in a position to simply donate the site. The site seems fascinating, and we really do hope somebody steps up and gives it the new life as a museum it deserves. [New York Times, image courtesy of New York Times]

Visitors to the Allard Pierson Museum will get to partake in an exhibit showcasing ancient Rome through augmented reality.

In “A Future for the Past,” a swiveling iMac superimposes buildings and text onto two large pictures/murals. Tricks like this one are not new to advertising, but rarely have we noticed the principles of augmented reality making their way into public spaces.

But while the museum’s application is promising from a technical standpoint, from what I can tell in this clip, the user isn’t getting much information from the computer screen that couldn’t have been placed into the original image. Still, the exhibit is far more interactive than if its visitors were just reading a sign. [Allard Pierson Museum via Engadget]

Peter Nelson has spent most of his life and money assembling James Bond equipment scattered across the globe. But his museum collection includes vehicles representing almost every Bond film, ranging from a typical Aston Martin DB5 to the 42-ton Russian tank from Goldeneye.

Just nobody tell Nelson that James Bond isn’t real. At this point, it will destroy him. [James Bond Museum and News & Star via Wired]

Note: Getty image of 1976 Lotus Esprit Coupe from ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ – spotted at a recent auction.

In 2000, Kevin somehow convinced the town council of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma that they needed a museum or tourist attraction, and that his incredibly large collection of toys and action figures should be it. In 2005, the museum opened up, and in 2009 you found out about it and tried to figure out a good reason to go to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.

In addition to his collection, which has got to be one of the biggest in the world, there’s a superhero room where kids can dress up like superheroes and run around. And think of how good it would feel to do that in public so you wouldn’t have to feel ashamed anymore.

In any case, be sure to check out the full slideshow over at Wired. [Wired via Boing Boing]

You see, in Denmark, even exhibits about the history and translation of 1000-year-old runes can hope for digitally projected augmentation. This runic stone, when approached by a visitor, commences a story—harrowing, violent, dramatic, etcetera— spectacularly projected onto the stone’s textured surface. The effect is cool, but that’s not the end of it. As the story continues, the projection leaves the boundaries of the stone, and enters the area of the visitor, where it begs for their input.

Watch for yourselves, and try not to weep next time you’re trudging through the silent, static aisles of your local history museum. On display now at the Cultural History Museum in Randers, Denmark, courtesy of the University of Aarhus. [CAVI Digital Experience—Thanks, Jonas]

The event was led by famous artist and chain reaction creator Arthur Ganson, who counted with smaller Goldberg machines brought by teams from all over the country. [MIT Museum--Thanks Jack]

[Powerhouse Museum]

The exhibition is running from today until April 26. If you’re into science and enjoy Star Wars, it’s got a lot to offer. It’s the kind of thing you’ll regret missing out on if you don’t go, so make sure you find some time this summer to go and check it out.

[Powerhouse Museum]